BR112016009725B1 - FUEL DISPENSER, AND SYSTEM FOR CONTENT GENERATION WITH WATERMARK - Google Patents

Abstract

FUEL DISPENSER AND SYSTEM FOR CONTENT GENERATION WITH WATERMARK. Systems and methods are provided for watermarking content and authenticating watermarked content. Content is rendered in a viewport while watermarked information embedded in portions of the content is retrieved. The watermarked information is verified to authenticate the content. If the content is not authenticated, or is not authenticated within a period of time, the content may be invalidated or otherwise blocked from rendering in the viewer.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The subject described here refers generally to fuel dispensers, and more specifically to content management employed by fuel dispensers.

FUNDAMENTALS

[002] Retail fuel dispensers provide entries for customer data in routine and specific ways, such as answering scripted yes/no questions, credit card swiping, zip code entry (“CEP”), etc. While this facilitates pull-in control and further communication of customer data, dispensers are unable to utilize different services or business applications desired by retailers to possibly increase revenue, maintain loyalty and provide a unique user experience while at the same time that maintains or guarantees a level of security authorized by regulatory bodies, such as the Payment Card Industry Security Council (PCI), Europay, Mastercard, Visa (EMV), etc. The introduction of these applications or services into fuel dispensers could compromise the security of customer data due to the ability of such applications or services to potentially gain access to the same inputs currently used on dispensers for payment or other transactions.

[003] In this regard, authentication of content on a fuel dispenser, which may include applications or services to run on top of the fuel dispenser, means for rendering by the fuel dispenser, etc., may be desired to allow control over what content can be displayed, executed, etc. Authentication can be performed prior to execution or presentation allowing only applications or services subscribed to by specified entities to run or present on top of the fuel dispenser. In particular, fuel dispenser components are configured to verify a content signature loaded onto it against a database of authorized signatures before allowing execution. The fuel dispenser typically requires the contents to be signed by a manufacturer's signature in order to run on the fuel dispenser. Thus, the manufacturer is responsible for reviewing and testing third-party applications developed for the fuel dispenser to ensure proper functionality, proper security, etc., and signing the content for use on the fuel dispenser. When content is signed prior to execution, however, each device or related processor(s) wishing to execute or present the content must verify the signature before proceeding. This can be costly for processors who are not involved with content security, or may not retain information needed to verify signatures.

SUMMARY

[004] Below is a simplified summary of one or more aspects to provide a basic understanding of them. This summary is not a comprehensive overview of all Aspects covered, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all Aspects nor to delineate the scope of any or all Aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that follows.

[005] Aspects described here are directed at using cryptographic watermarking for content executed or otherwise rendered on a device during execution or rendering in authentication of the content. If the watermark is not authentic, or is not authenticated within a certain period of time for example, the content can be terminated or otherwise blocked from being displayed. For example, watermark description information for some content can be provided to a device that checks the watermark for content, and the device can determine whether the content is properly watermarked while the content is being rendered or executed. For example, watermarking may include placing watermarked watermark information in one or more frames of content (for example, where the content refers to video) in such a way that the watermark is checked as frames are displayed. When content cannot be verified, the content can be blocked or terminated even though rendering or execution may have started. In this regard, the determination of whether to authenticate content is at the processor level, and thus content can be rendered with or without authentication.

[006] To achieve the above and related purposes, the one or more aspects comprise the characteristics fully described here below and particularly highlighted in the claims. The description which follows and the accompanying drawings set out in detail certain features illustrative of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects can be employed, and this description is intended to include all these aspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[007] The reported aspects will be described together with the attached drawings, provided to illustrate and not limit the reported aspects, in which identical designations may denote identical elements and in which: figure 1 is an aspect of an example system to verify watermark information about rendered content.

[008] Figure 2 is an aspect of an example system for rendering watermarked content and verifying the authenticity of watermarked content.

[009] Figure 3 is an aspect of an example system for rendering content in a universal payment module.

[0010] Figure 4 is an aspect of an example system for watermark content.

[0011] Figure 5 is an example aspect of content that includes watermark information embedded within the content and related description information.

[0012] Figure 6 is an aspect of an example methodology to control content rendering based on authenticity verification.

[0013] Figure 7 is a look at an example methodology for blocking content that cannot be authenticated against rendering over a player.

[0014] Figure 8 is an aspect of an example methodology for watermark content.

[0015] Figure 9 is an aspect of an example system according to aspects described herein.

[0016] Figure 10 is an aspect of an example of a communication environment according to aspects described here.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Reference will now be made in detail to various aspects, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation, not limitation of aspects. Indeed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variations can be made to the aspects described without departing from its scope or spirit. For example, features illustrated or described as part of one example may be used in another example to provide yet another example. Thus, the described aspects are intended to cover such modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0018] Described here are various aspects of watermarking content with authentication information to allow authenticity to be determined during content rendering or execution. In this regard, the content may include certain watermark information, which may include replacing certain portions of the content with the watermark information (for example, replacing pixels in one or more frames of video with watermark information). 'water). Furthermore, in this regard, watermark description information may be provided for the content as well, which indicates a location of the watermark information in relation to the content. Additionally, in one example, the watermark description information may include a description of the watermark parameter values or to verify the watermark to authenticate the content. In this regard, a device can obtain the watermark description information, determine the watermark information from the content (while the content is being rendered or played by the device, or a related device) based on the watermark description information, and authenticate the content based on the watermark information. Once the content is authenticated, the device, or a related device, can continue to render or run the content. When content is not authenticated, or is not authenticated after a period of time, the device, or a related device, may block or otherwise terminate the rendering or execution of the content.

[0019] As used in this application, the terms “component”, “module”, “system”, “device” and others are intended to include a computer-related entity, such as, but not limited to, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or running software. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component can be located on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Furthermore, these components can run from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such as according to a signal having one or more packets of data, such as data coming from a component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and /or over a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal.

[0020] Furthermore, matter may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the reported mateia. The term "article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer readable device, carrier or media. For example, computer readable media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g. hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips...), optical disks (e.g. compact disc (CD), disk versatile digital (DVD)...), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g. card, stick, key command...). Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave can be employed to carry computer readable electronic data such as those used to transmit and receive electronic mail or to access a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Naturally, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications can be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the matter.

[0021] Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unless otherwise specified, or taken out of context, the phrase "X employs A or B" is intended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the sentence “X employs A or B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, articles "a" and "a" as used in this application and the appended claims shall generally be interpreted to mean "one or more" unless otherwise specified or outside the context to be directed to a singular form.

[0022] Various aspects or characteristics will be presented in terms of systems that may include a number of devices, components, modules and the like. It should be understood and appreciated that the various systems may include devices, components, modules, etc. additional and/or may not include all devices, components, modules, etc. discussed in association with the figures. A combination of these approaches can also be used.

[0023] Figure 1 illustrates an example system 100 to authenticate content for execution or rendering based on watermark in the content. System 100 includes a security device 102 that renders content over a display 104. One skilled in the art will recognize that the term "security device", in the context of electronic payment systems, can generally refer to a device where it is not possible to access 'secrets' (such as cryptographic keys and/or “PIN” codes...) that are kept inside the device. Any attempt to tamper with a security device could result in secrets being erased before they can be obtained. Such anti-tampering mechanisms in the security device may be based on some reactive electronics capable of monitoring disassembly switches, mesh circuits, etc. to detect tampering and accordingly take appropriate action to erase or otherwise disable the memory where the secrets are stored. In one example, security devices may include and payment card industry (PCI) compliant devices, payment transaction security (PTS), or other regulatory authority standards and/or specifications.

[0024] The display 104, for example, can include substantially any video output device, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED), and/or the like. Furthermore, the display 104 can have touch input functionality to allow interaction with content rendered on the display 104. In this regard, the security device 102 can authenticate content rendered on the display 104 such that the presentation of content dishonest (for example, unauthorized content that requests the entry of confidential information) can be mitigated.

[0025] The security device 102 may include a content rendering component 106 to provide content for rendering over the display 104 or to otherwise play content that requires the use of the display 104 to render images, video, etc. The security device 102 may also include a watermark verification component 108 to obtain watermark information from the content, and determine whether the content can be authenticated based on the watermark information. Additionally, for example, security device 102 may include one or more processors for executing one or more content-related instructions related to communicating with other devices, such as display 104, etc.

[0026] According to an example, the security device 102 may receive content for execution or rendering. The content may be an application or service for execution over the security device 102, media for presentation by the security device - for example via the display 104 and/or the like. When the content includes an application or service, the application or service may cause media to be rendered over display 104, in one example. Such media may also be generally referred to here as content. In any case, as content is received, content rendering component 106 may play or otherwise render the content. This may include rendering content over display 104, running content that requires media to be rendered over display 104, etc. The content or other media may include video or image data and the video or image data may have watermark information present in one or more frames.

[0027] Thus, the watermark verification component 108 can determine the watermark information coming from the content as the content is being rendered to the display 104. For example, the watermark verification component 104 'water 108 may detect certain characteristics of the content before it if or while it is being sent to the display 104 (eg, in one or more communication strata). In one example, the watermark verification component 108 can obtain rendered data on a communication link between the security device 102 and the display 104, and can obtain the watermark information from the rendered data. For example, when the content includes video data, the content rendering component 106 may render video over the display 104 and the watermark verification component 108 may obtain watermark information from certain portions of the rendered video, such as one or more frames, pixels within frames, etc.

[0028] In this regard, for example, the watermark verification component 108 can obtain watermark description information for the content, which can specify a description of the watermark values in the tag information watermark, locations within the rendered content that include the watermark information, etc. Furthermore, the watermark verification component 108 can receive information related to the authenticity of the watermark. Thus, the watermark verification component 108 can obtain watermark information from the rendered content based on the received watermark description information, and can verify the watermark information with the received information. related to the authenticity of the watermark. If the watermark verification component 108 can authenticate the watermark information, the content rendering component 106 can continue to render content for the display 104. If, however, the watermark verification component 104 watermark 108 cannot authenticate the watermark information (or cannot do so within a certain period of time), the content rendering component 106 may block or otherwise terminate content rendered to the display 104.

[0029] In an example, as further described herein, the content rendering component 106 and/or the watermark verification component 108 (and/or their functions) can be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC) , such as a field programmable gate group (FPGA) or other circuit. The IC may control a hardware switch for the display 104 to ensure that only authenticated content is rendered over the display 104 (eg, at least after a pause time period by which authenticity needs to be verified).

[0030] Figure 2 illustrates an example system 200 for using watermark to authenticate content for rendering over a viewer. System 200 includes a security device 102 that renders content over a display 104, as described, and a media device 202 that can deliver the content to security device 102. Security device 102 and media device 202 can be or may include one or more processors configured to perform the functionality of these devices and/or related components, as described herein. System 200 also includes a content watermarking component 204 for watermarking content played by media device 202. For example, content watermarking component 204 can provide content to media device 202 and watermark description information to security device 102 (e.g., upon request from associated devices 202 and 102 or otherwise). In another example, the content watermark component 204 may store the content and/or watermark description information on one or more centralized data stores for access by associated devices 202 and 102.

[0031] The security device 102 includes a content rendering component 106 and a watermark verification component 108, as described, and also includes a watermark information receiving component 208 for receiving information from watermark description for a certain content. The content rendering component 106 may include an accessory connector 210 which generates a connection to the display 104. The accessory connector 210 may be a hardware switch, in one example, which may be enabled to allow communication between the security device 102 and a display or other output component or disabled to prevent access to the display or other output component. A suitable accessory connector is described in published application US 20090265638, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Additionally, media device 202 may include a content rendering component 212 for providing content to security device 102 for rendering over display 104.

[0032] According to an example, the content rendering component 212 may render content to be displayed over the display 104. For example, content may be rendered from an application running over the media device 202 and the device media player 202 may provide the content to the security device 102 for rendering over the display 104. The security device 102 may authenticate the content while rendering the content to the display 104 to determine whether to allow the content to continue rendering over the display 104 This can prevent malicious or rogue applications from compromising the display 104 to obtain confidential information. For example, content rendering component 106 may begin rendering content for display 104 as received from media device 202. In one example, this may include switching accessory connector 210 to allow communication from content rendering component 106 for display 104.

[0033] As content from the media device 202 is received and rendered by the content rendering component 106 to the display 104, the watermark verification component 108 may obtain watermark information embedded within the content. For example, when the content is video, certain frames and/or certain pixels or collections of pixels within frames may include watermark information. In one example, the watermark verification component 108 can use received watermark description information for the content to determine a location of the watermark information within the content (e.g., location of pixels in certain frames that correlate with the watermark, such as line and position parameters, and/or the like), a description of the watermark values in the watermark information, etc. The watermark verification component 108 can obtain the watermark information and use the information to authenticate the content. For example, the watermark verification component 108 can compare the watermark information with the received watermark information, apply a function to the watermark information to obtain an output that can be authenticated. or otherwise verified and/or the like.

[0034] It should be appreciated, in an example, that the content is video (eg audio/video interleaving (AVI), moving picture expert groups (MPEG), etc.). When the type of content is compressed, such as MPEG video, watermark information can be embedded in the compressed data based on locations specified in watermark description information. For example, the watermark verification component 108 can extract the watermark information from the video content compressed according to MPEG specification local data or other instructions/parameters in the watermark description information. In this regard, the watermark verification component 108 can decompress data extracted from the MPEG content to determine the watermark information.

[0035] When the watermark verification component 108 authenticates the content based on the watermark, the content rendering component 106 continues to render the content coming from the media device 202 to the display 104. When the watermark verification component 108 does not properly authenticate the content, the content rendering component 106 may terminate or otherwise block the content coming from the media device 202.

[0036] In one example, blocking content may include toggling accessory connector 210 to disable communication between content rendering component 106 and display 104. For example, watermark verification component 108 may terminate or block otherwise content of reaching display 104 where watermark information is obtained but cannot be authenticated, where watermark information is not properly obtained within a given time period, and/or the like . It should be appreciated that watermark information within the content can be rendered onto the display 104 as received (e.g., as modified pixel values unrelated to the surrounding pixels).

[0037] Further, in one example, the content watermarking component 204 may apply watermark to content received from one or more sources. The watermarking process performed by the content watermarking component 204, which is further described herein, may include generating watermark information, and embedding the watermark information within the content. The content watermark component 204 may further generate watermark description information, which may indicate a description of the watermark values, a location of the watermark information within the content, etc. The watermark description information may also include, in one example, data related to verifying the authenticity of the application based on obtaining the watermark information. The content watermark component 204 may provide the watermarked content to the media device 202 and the watermarked description information to the security device 102. In one example, the watermarked content water and related information may be provided to devices 202 and 102 on request. In another example, the content watermark component 204 may store the watermarked content and related watermark description information in databases that can be accessed by the media device 202 and/or security device 102.

[0038] Furthermore, in one example, the content watermark component 204 can encrypt the watermark description information for storage and/or delivery to the security device 102, which can decrypt the information from watermark description. For example, encryption/decryption information may be provided by a content manufacturer or provider (e.g., a private key or a public/private key pair) such that security device 102 can authenticate the description information. watermark as coming from the manufacturer or provider related to the content. Additionally, the watermark information embedded in the content can be a digital signature from the manufacturer or provider, which can be obtained and verified by security device 102, as described, to authenticate the content as coming from the manufacturer or provider.

[0039] In any case, the watermark information receiving component 208 can obtain the watermark description information to locate the watermark information in the watermarked content. When the watermark description information is encrypted by the content watermark component 204, the watermark information receiving component can decrypt the watermark description information. In one example, the security device 102 may be programmed with encryption/decryption keys by the manufacturer, and the manufacturer may also manage the content watermark component 204. In this regard, the content watermark component content 204 may encrypt the watermark description information keys using keys related to the security device 102. Additionally, as described further herein, the watermark information receiving component 208 may communicate with the component content watermark 204 to receive the watermark description information over a secure communication link.

[0040] Figure 3 illustrates an example system 300 for authenticating watermarked content. System 300 includes a universal payment module (UPM) 302, which can be part of a secure payment system for a retail device, such as a point of sale (POS) terminal, and a display 304 for rendering content from the UPM 302. The UPM 302 may be installed in a fuel dispenser or other vending machine, in one example, and may display content on the display 304 relating to a current transaction, relating to an advertisement, relating to items for sale at a convenience store, and/or similar. For example, the UPM 302 can render video to the display 304 over different low voltage signaling (LVDS) or digital video transmission formats or similar display control formats. Furthermore, the display 304 can be a touch screen display that can obtain user input through interaction with the display 304. The UPM 302 can include and a main processor 306 for performing operations related to payment processing for transactions or other functions. UPM 302 may also include FPGA 308 programmed with security device functionality 102 as described herein, and/or related components (e.g., content rendering component 106, watermark verification component 108, reception of watermark information 208, etc.). The UPM 302 also includes an accessory connector 310 that can be used to disable access to the display 304, and to the watermark (WM) description information 312 stored in a memory of the UPM.

[0041] According to an example, the UPM 302 may be in a state such that it requires content authentication (eg, by authentication of watermark information). In one example, the UPM 302 may enter this state such that personal identification number (PIN) entry, code entry for a payment card, or other sensitive information entry is requested by the payment application or is otherwise detected by the UPM. 302. FPGA 308 may be instructed by main processor 306 to perform the functions of security device 102, as described above. In this regard, the main processor 306 can instruct the FPGA 308 to identify watermark information in the received video input. For example, main processor 306 may specify a location within the video input to FPGA 308 to obtain watermark information, such as frame number, frame positions, etc., specified in WM description information. 312 for video input. Furthermore, the main processor 306 can provide expected description of the watermark information to the FPGA 308 to verify the obtained watermark information in the description information of WM 312. As described, for example, the main processor 306 may obtain at least a portion of the WM description information 312 as watermark description information from the content watermark (e.g., from a content watermark component or other device ).

[0042] If the FPGA 308 does not detect the expected values in the video input based on the WM description information 312 or is otherwise unable to authenticate obtained watermark information, the FPGA 308 may disable the accessory connector 310 such that access is not allowed between the FPGA 308 and the display 304 to render the received video input. In one example, the FPGA 308 can disable the accessory connector 310 after a time period has expired to verify authenticity. If the FPGA 308 is capable of authenticating the video input (e.g., based on detecting expected values for the watermark information), the accessory connector 310 can remain activated to continue video rendering over the display 304.

[0043] Figure 4 illustrates an example system 400 for watermarking content for authentication by a security device in rendering or executing the content. System 400 includes a content watermark component 204 for watermarking content and generating related watermark description information. The content watermarking component 204 may include a content receiving component 404 for obtaining content to watermark. The content watermark component 204 may also include a watermark component 406 for generating watermark information and embedding the watermark information in the content. The content watermark component 204 may further include a watermark information component 408 for generating and providing watermark description information describing the location(s) of the watermark information. water in the content, information regarding values to expect at the location(s) in the content, etc. The content watermarking component 204 also includes a content delivery component 410 for delivering the watermarked content to a device, database, etc.

[0044] According to an example, the content receiving component 404 receives content 412 for watermarking. This may include receiving content 412 by request or otherwise. Furthermore, the content 412 may be stored in a remotely located source, in one example. Content 412 may include video content (eg, AVI, MPEG, etc.), audio content, or other content that may be rendered over a display or other output device. The watermark application component 406 may generate watermark information, such as a digital signature identifying a source of the content or other cryptographic information that can be used to verify the authenticity of the content.

[0045] The watermark application component 406 can embed the watermark information in the content. For example, this could include replacing portions of the content with watermark information, such as the pixels within one or more video frames, sound values in an audio stream, etc. It should be appreciated that when the content type such as MPEG is understood, watermark information can be embedded in the compressed data, as described herein. The watermark information application component 408 may generate watermark description information that specifies the location(s) of the watermark information within the content (e.g., which may include information additional or alternative way to localize the watermark information in a content-specific format, such as localization within compressed MPEG content). The watermark description information may also specify watermark values to be expected on the content (for example, values indicative of the digital signature or other identifier to authenticate the content as coming from the source).

[0046] The watermark information application component 408 can provide the watermark description information to a WM description information database 414 (for example, to obtain by a security device) , and/or may transmit the watermark description information directly to a security device (e.g., UPM 420) via frame structure 418. Thus, the security device may be remotely located, at a example. In any case, for example, the watermark information component 408 may provide the watermark description information as encrypted data to ensure that authorized entities are able to receive and process the information. For example, the watermark information component 408 can establish a secure connection with the UPM 420 over the communication frame structure 418 using an encrypted communication link. Thus, the content watermarking component 204 may be or may include secure server functionality. In other examples, the watermark information component 408 may store the watermark description information as encrypted in the WM description information database 414.

[0047] The content delivery component 410 may deliver the watermarked content to a watermarked content database 416 and/or to the UPM 420, a media device 202, or another device via framework of communication frame 418. In one example, the media device 202 can communicate with the UPM 420 to render the watermarked content, and the UPM 420 can verify the authenticity of the content during rendering by obtaining the watermarked information watermarked content based on the watermark description information as described. For example, UPM 420 may provide security device functionality 102, although it should be appreciated that UPM 420 may also receive and render watermarked content 416 from content watermark component 204 and/or 416 database of watermarked content directly.

[0048] In another example, the content watermarking component 204 may be a secure server hosted by a manufacturer of the UPM 420 and/or a related device within which the UPM 420 is installed (e.g., a fuel dispenser, vending machine, or other retail vending device). The server may include a hardware security module (HSM) with encryption keys for one or more (or all) 420 UPMs implemented by the manufacturer. In this regard, the watermark component 406 can generate the watermark information using encryption keys for all UPMs 402 or for a specific one. In this example, the watermark information component 408 may send watermarked description information relating to the specific UPM and/or the content delivery component 410 may advance the watermarked content to the specific UPM or related media device.

[0049] Fig. 5 illustrates an example video frame 500 with embedded watermark information, and related watermark description information 502 for locating and/or verifying the watermark information. Video frame 500, in this example, includes a plurality of pixel collections A, B, C and D that may be modified in video frame 500 to include values related to watermark information. These pixel collections can be rendered in video frame 500, in one example, canceled and/or the like. As described herein, a security device can obtain the watermarked description information 502 associated with the watermarked content, and can extract collections of pixels A, B, C and D from the video frame 500 while renders the video content.

[0050] For example, based on the watermark description information 502, a security device may determine that a portion (e.g., value i) of the watermark information can be found in frame xyz, in row a, pixels b-c, and an additional portion (eg value j) in row m, pixels n-o. The security device can therefore obtain the values and attempt to authenticate the watermark information. In one example, the security device might check the values i, j, etc. against values received in the watermark description information. In another example, the values i, j, etc., when combined (eg, concatenated or otherwise) can form a digital signature that can be authenticated.

[0051] Additionally, for example, the watermark information may appear within a first number of frames to ensure that the information is obtained before an authentication pause or otherwise before the content is fully rendered.

[0052] With reference to Figures 6-8, methodologies that can be used in accordance with various aspects described herein are illustrated. Although, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it should be understood and appreciated that methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, according to one or more aspects, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with acts other than those shown and described here. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology may alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Additionally, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology in accordance with one or more aspects.

[0053] Figure 6 illustrates an example methodology 600 for controlling the rendering of watermarked content based on authentication of watermark information. At 602, the received content may be rendered over a display. As described, content may be received from a media device and may include watermark information to authenticate the content. Content can start rendering during the authentication process.

[0054] At 604, watermark description information is optionally received. For example, this information may be received over a secure link with a server at a manufacturer of a security device, etc. Watermark description information can describe locations, expected values, etc. of watermark information embedded in the content.

[0055] At 606, watermark information can be obtained from the received content. For example, this may include locating the watermark information based at least in part on the received watermark description information. In other examples, the information for locating the watermark information may be known or otherwise pre-programmed by a manufacturer. As described, for example, when the content is video, watermark information may be embedded in frame pixels in such a way that video pixel values within frames are replaced by watermark value information. Thus, at 606, the watermark information is extracted from the pixels as indicated by the watermark description information or otherwise known.

[0056] At 608, the watermark information is authenticated. As described, this may include comparing values in the watermark information with expected values (which may be specified within the watermark description information or otherwise known). In another example, authenticating the watermark information may include verifying a signature generated from the watermark information. It should be appreciated that authenticating the watermark information at 608 can include substantially any way of verifying the watermark information with known values, values derived from the watermark information, or substantially any type of authentication (for example, challenge response, challenge exchange, message authentication code (MAC), etc.).

[0057] At 610, whether content is rendered over the display can be controlled based on whether the watermark information is authenticated. For example, when the watermark information is not authenticated, or this is not done within a certain time, the content may be terminated or otherwise blocked from the display. Once the content is authenticated, it can continue to render over the viewport.

[0058] It should be appreciated, however, that authentication of the content need not occur and a device can render content without authenticating. However, if authentication is required or desired, watermark information within the content can be used in this regard to verify authenticity and actions can be taken based on whether the content is authenticated or not.

[0059] Figure 7 illustrates an example methodology 700 for controlling the rendering of watermarked content based on authentication of watermark information. At 702, received content may be rendered over a display. As described, content may be received from a media device and may include watermark information to authenticate the content. Content can begin rendering while authentication proceeds.

[0060] At 704, watermark description information is optionally received. For example, this information may be received over a secure link with a server at a manufacturer of a security device, etc. Watermark description information can describe locations, expected values, etc. of watermark information embedded in the content.

[0061] At 706, the watermark information is authenticated. As described, this can include comparing values in the watermark information with expected values, authenticating the watermark information can include verifying a signature generated from the watermark information, etc.

[0062] At 708, it can be determined whether a pause is reached. In this example, the pause could be related to a value specified for a period of time that authentication must occur before content is blocked. If the pause has not been reached, it can be determined whether the content authenticates at 710. As described, the content can be watermarked in various areas of the content, and thus not all of the watermarked information is received at the same period of time (for example, watermark information can be spread across a number of frames in a video). Thus, if the content is not authenticated at 710 (for example, because enough watermark information has not yet been received), the watermark information can be authenticated again at 706 until the content is authenticated at 710, or until the break is reached at 708.

[0063] If the pause is reached at 708 without the content being authenticated, the content may be blocked from rendering over the viewport at 712. If the content is authenticated at 710, the process terminates and the rendering of the content over the viewport is not interrupted.

[0064] Figure 8 illustrates an example of methodology 800 for watermark content.

[0065] In 802, content can be received for watermark. For example, content can be received based on a request or otherwise. At 804, watermark information can be embedded within the content. For example, the watermark information can include one or more generated values that can be imposed on the content (for example, as replaced pixels in one or more frames). The watermark information can include values that can be used to generate a signature by a security device obtaining the information.

[0066] At 806, watermark description information can be generated indicating locations within the content of the watermark information. As described, watermark description information can be generated to include frame and pixel locations within the video content. Additionally, the watermark description information may include values of the watermark information to be verified by a security device obtaining the information.

[0067] In 808, watermarked content can be communicated to a media device. The media device can render the watermarked content to a viewer (for example, via a security device or otherwise) as described.

[0068] At 810, the watermark description information can be communicated to a security device. For example, the watermark description information can be encrypted to make the information secure for communicating to the security device, which can decrypt the watermark description information. Additionally, in one example, a secure link may be established with the security device to communicate the watermark description information with the security device.

[0069] To provide a context for the various aspects of the subject matter described, figures 9 and 10 as well as the following discussion are intended to provide a brief overview of an appropriate environment in which the various aspects of the subject matter described may be implemented. Although the matter has been described above in the general context of computer executable instructions of a program running on one or more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can also be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types. Additionally, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the systems/methods can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single processor, multiprocessor or multicore computer systems, mini computing devices, mainframe computers, as well as computers personal computers, handheld computing devices (eg, personal digital assistant (PDA), telephone, watch...), consumer or industrial programmable or consumer-programmable, microprocessor-based electronics, and others. Aspects illustrated can also be put into practice in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked via a communications network. However, some if not all aspects of the claimed subject matter can be put into practice on isolated computers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can be located on both local and remote memory storage devices.

[0070] With reference to Fig. 9, an exemplary environment 900 for implementing various aspects described herein includes a computer 912 (eg, desktop, laptop, server, portable electronics, consumer programmable or industrial...). Computer 912 includes a processing unit 914, system memory 916, and system bus 918. System bus 918 couples system components including, but not limited to, system memory 916 to processing unit 914. processing 914 can be any one of several available microprocessors. It should be appreciated that dual microprocessors, multicore multiprocessor architectures and the like can be employed as the processing unit 914.

[0071] System memory 916 includes both volatile and non-volatile memory. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines for transferring information between elements within the computer 912, such as during startup, is stored in non-volatile memory. By way of illustration, not limitation, non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM). Volatile memory includes random access memory (RAM), which can act as external cache memory to facilitate processing.

[0072] Computer 912 also includes removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. Figure 9 illustrates, for example, mass storage 924. Mass storage 924 includes, but is not limited to, devices such as a magnetic or optical disk drive, floppy disk drive, flash memory, or memory stick. In addition, mass storage924 may include storage media separately or in combination with other storage media.

[0073] Figure 9 provides software application(s) 928 that act as an intermediary between users and/or other computers and the basic computer features described in the appropriate operating environment 900. This software application(s) 928 includes one or both of system and application software. System software may include an operating system, which may be stored on mass storage 924, which acts to control and allocate computer system resources 912. Application software takes advantage of resource management by system software through modules of program and data stored on one or both of system memory 916 and mass storage 924.

[0074] The computer 912 also includes one or more interface processes 926 that are communicatively coupled with the bus 918 and facilitate interaction with the computer 912. By way of example, the interface component 926 can be a port (e.g., serial, parallel, PCMCIA, USB, FireWire...) or an interface card (eg sound, video, network...) or similar. Interface component 926 can receive input and provide output (wired or wireless). For example, input may be received from devices including, but not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touchpad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, gamepad, satellite disk, scanner , camera, other computer and the like. Output may also be supplied by computer 912 to output device(s) via interface component 926. Output devices may include displays (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LCD), plasma...), speakers, printers and other computers, among other things.

[0075] According to an example, the processing unit(s) 914 may understand or receive instructions relating to rendering watermarked content, obtaining and authenticating watermark information, embedding watermarked information within the content, communicating the watermarked content and/or related watermarked description information, etc., and/or other aspects described herein. It should be appreciated that system memory 916 may additionally or alternatively house such instructions and processing unit(s) 914 may be used to process the instructions. Additionally, interface component(s) 926 may allow interaction with content, operating certain functions of devices described herein, etc., and mass storage 924 may store information to perform said certain functions, such such as content, watermark description information, signatures, keys, etc. System 900, or at least computer 912, may include a security device 102, a media device 104, a content watermark component 204, UPM 302, or other devices, components, or systems described herein, etc.

[0076] Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computer environment 1000 with which the present invention may interact. Environment 1000 includes one or more client(s) 1010. Client(s) 1010 may be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). Environment 1000 also includes one or more server(s) 1030. Thus, environment 1000 may correspond to a two-tier client server model or a multi-tier model (e.g., client, mid-tier server, server data), among other models. Server(s) 1030 may also be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). Servers 1030 can host threads to perform transformations employing aspects of the present invention, for example. A possible communication between a client 1010 and a server 1030 may be in the form of a data packet transmitted between two or more computer processes.

[0077] The environment 1000 includes a communication framework 1050 that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s) 1010 and the server(s) 1030. Here, the client(s) 1010 may correspond to application program components and server(s) 1030 may provide the interface functionality and optionally the storage system, as previously described. Client(s) 1010 is operatively connected to one or more client data stores 1060 which may be employed to store local information for client(s) 1010. Similarly, the server(s) 1030 is operatively connected to one or more server data stores 1040 which may be employed to store local information from servers 1030.

[0078] By way of example, one or more clients 1010 may be security device 102, media device 104, UPM 302, etc. requesting content or related watermark description information from the server(s) 1030, which may include a content watermark component 204, or another server that may store or access storage comprising content, watermark description information, etc., via communication structure 1050. Server(s) 1030 may, in one example, communicate content, watermark description information, etc. , over a secure or non-secure link, as described, to client(s) 1010 via communication structure 1050, which may store content, watermark description information, etc. on customer data store(s) 1060.

[0079] The various logic, logic blocks, modules, components and illustrative circuits described in connection with the embodiments described herein can be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a specific integrated circuit for application (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively the processor may be any processor, controller, microcontroller or state machine. a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors together with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Additionally, at least one processor may comprise one or more modules operable to perform one or more of the steps and/or actions described above. An exemplary storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage media can be joined together with the processor. Also, in some aspects, the processor and storage media can reside in an ASIC.

[0080] In one or more aspects, the functions, methods, or algorithms described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on computer-readable media, which may be incorporated into a computer program product. Computer readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media may comprise random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), compact disk (CD)-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other media that can be used to load or store a desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk, as used here, includes CD, laser disk, optical disk, digital versatile disk (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disk where disks usually play data magnetically, while disks usually play data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above shall also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0081] While one or more Aspects have been described above, it is to be understood that any and all equivalent embodiments of the Aspects presented are included within its scope and spirit. Aspects depicted are presented by way of example only and are not intended to be limitations on the various aspects that can be implemented in view of the descriptions. Thus, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in this art that the subject matter presented is not limited to these aspects as modifications can be made. Therefore, it is contemplated that any and all such embodiments are included in the subject matter presented which may form part of its scope and spirit.

Claims (15)

1. Fuel dispenser for authentication of content for display, characterized in that it comprises: a display; a security device attached to the display to control content rendered on the display; and a media device that takes watermarked content for rendering on the display, wherein the watermarked content includes embedded watermarked information that can be used to verify the watermarked content, the which does not compromise the watermarked content, where the security device comprises: a content rendering component to receive the watermarked content from the media device and render the watermarked content on the display; and a watermark verification component to determine the watermark information embedded in the watermarked content and control whether the watermarked content is rendered in the viewer based, at least in part, on the watermark information while the content is rendered or executed. 2. Fuel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the security device additionally comprises a watermark information receiving component to obtain watermark description information for the content that indicates locations within of the watermarked content including the watermarked information, and wherein the watermark verification component determines the watermarked information at least in part by extracting data from locations within the watermarked content 'water as watermarked content is rendered in the viewport. 3. Fuel dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that the watermark verification component extracts data from locations within the watermarked content additionally based on a content type. 4. Fuel dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that the watermarked content is a video, and the locations correlate to a plurality of pixels in one or more frames in the video. 5. Fuel dispenser according to claim 2, characterized in that the component that receives watermark information receives watermark description information about a security link. 6. Fuel dispenser according to claim 5, characterized in that the component that receives watermark information decrypts the watermark description information as received over the security link. 7. Fuel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that the watermark verification component authenticates the watermarked content based, at least in part, on the watermark information and controls whether watermarked content is rendered in the viewport based, at least in part, on the results of authenticating the watermarked content. 8. Fuel dispenser according to claim 7, characterized in that the watermark verification component authenticates the watermarked content based, at least in part, on the comparison of the watermark information water to expected values for the watermark information. 9. Fuel dispenser according to claim 7, characterized in that the watermark verification component authenticates the watermarked content based, at least in part, on the authentication of a signature generated by the information of watermark. 10. Fuel dispenser according to claim 7, characterized in that the watermark verification component blocks the watermarked content from being rendered on the display where the security device fails to successfully authenticate the watermarked content within a period of time. 11. Fuel dispenser according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises an accessory connector for switching a communication path between the security device and the display, in which the watermark verification component controls whether watermarked content is rendered in the viewport by enabling or disabling the accessory connector. 12. System for generating watermarked content, characterized in that it comprises at least one processor executing instructions to provide: a component that receives content to obtain watermarked content; a watermark component for generating watermark information for the content and embedding the watermark information within the content to generate watermarked content; a watermark information component for generating watermark description information indicating locations within watermarked content of the watermark information; and a component that provides content for communicating the watermarked content to a media device, wherein the watermarked content is a video, and the locations correlate to a plurality of pixels in one or more frames in the video representing the watermark information, said plurality of pixels each forming less than an entire frame. 13. System according to claim 12, characterized in that the watermark information component communicates the watermark description information to a security device. 14. System according to claim 13, characterized in that the watermark information component communicates the watermark description information to the security device over the security link. 15. System according to claim 13, characterized in that the watermark information component encrypts the watermark description information to communicate to the security device.

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